Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To place or arrange on a shelf.
  • intransitive verb To put aside as though on a shelf: synonym: defer.
  • intransitive verb To cause to retire from service; dismiss.
  • intransitive verb To furnish or outfit with shelves.
  • intransitive verb To slope gradually; incline.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A shelf or ledge.
  • To place on a shelf: as, to shelve books.
  • To lay by on a shelf; put away or aside as disposed of or not needed; hence, to put off or neglect: as, to shelve a question or a claim.
  • To furnish with shelves, as a room or closet.
  • To slope; incline.
  • To incline or tip (a cart) so as to discharge its load.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To incline gradually; to be slopping.
  • transitive verb To furnish with shelves.
  • transitive verb To place on a shelf. Hence: To lay on the shelf; to put aside; to dismiss from service; to put off indefinitely.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive to place on a shelf
  • verb transitive to store, set aside, quit, or halt
  • verb Wales, slang to have sex with
  • noun A rocky ledge or shelf.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb hold back to a later time
  • verb place on a shelf

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From shelf (on the model of such pairs as calf, calve).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From (plural of) shelf.

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Examples

  • The grey box on the left corner shelve is her Koli masala box.

    Archive 2007-01-01 Anjali 2007

  • The grey box on the left corner shelve is her Koli masala box.

    Koli Kitchen (Thal Part I) Anjali 2007

  • TFS has a single command called shelve that copies changes to the server with a specified name.

    Site Home edhintz 2011

  • Often enough, when major labels shelve debut albums or drop acts, it's no great cause for tears (except, of course, for the discarded artists).

    NashvilleScene.com 2009

  • Often enough, when major labels shelve debut albums or drop acts, it's no great cause for tears (except, of course, for the discarded artists).

    NashvilleScene.com 2009

  • An official familiar with Gen. McChrystal's thinking said the officer would likely "shelve" Gen. McKiernan's request.

    U.S. Fires Afghan War Chief 2009

  • Connie September, the acting chairwoman of the portfolio committee, welcomed the decision to "shelve" the game.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2002

  • I can think of a few people that I'd like to "shelve" for a while. on 03/17/2010, -3/+4Replace life terms and capital punishment with suspended animation.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Digg 2010

  • I can think of a few people that I'd like to "shelve" for a while. on 03/17/2010, -3/+4Replace life terms and capital punishment with suspended animation.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Digg 2010

  • To put action to talk, she's requested that the county transpo authority "shelve" any further study of an F-line extension

    Curbed SF Andy J. Wang 2010

  • Shelve remains a British dialect term designating the tipping of a tip cart, something resembling the tipping of oyster shells into the water above beds, to increase spawn survival.

    How to Read the Land The MIT Press Reader 2022

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